Portable food table



Oct. 28 1924.

O. T. WEBBER PORTABLE FOOD TABLE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 22. 1921 Oct. 28 1924.

O. T. WEBBER PORTABLE FOOD TABLE 192) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 22,

720617550X I ya/em fler Ell 1,513,357 1924' o. 'r. WEBBER PORTABLE FOOD TABLE Filed Oct. 22. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 6 Oct. 28 1924.

O. T. WEBBER PORTABLE FOOD TABLE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 22,

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o. T, WEBBER PORTABLE FOOD TABLE File 22. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Que/v'f'Z/eZer NH W :59 MM, MM 7" food ta les. a

Patented Oct. 28, 1924.

N TED S A r'ATENT OFFICE;

ew'mw T.- wanna, or CHICAGO, rumors, ASSIGNQR T0 MARSHALL FIELD a 00., or

' CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS;

PORTABLE FOOD TABLE.

Application fi led October 22, 1921. Serial No. 509,657.

To all-whom it mag concern. 7

Be itknown that I, OWEN .T. WEBBER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in thecounty of Cook and State I of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable 3 Food Tables, ofwhich the following is a-specification. i

The resent invention More particularly the present invention relates'to portable means for holding food whereby said food may be conveniently served; The present invention isparticularly useful for service inhospitals, for the reason that, in addition to the advantage of ready portability, the present'invention presents advantages; due to "the fact that,'by simple changes, it is readily'adaptable for carryin the foods required for special diets.

An 0 'ject, of the present invention is to provide a portable food table, by means'of which all they food and utensils necessary 2 'for' feeding a large number ofpeople can a single vehicle; A further object is to providea'portable I food tablein which food may be kept hot,

by means ofsteaming hot water baths, but

splashing in transit.

the table may be conveniently arranged for carrying receptacles used in serving any preferred, diet. 1. t' 'A further object is to provide a portable food table, in which hot food may be kept hot and cold food may be kept cold without 1 the disadvantage of undesirable heat transfer. I i f A further object is to provide a portable food table which is compact, which will carry a large amount of food, and by means 4 relates to portable 4 "be compactly and conveniently arranged in in which there is very little likelihood of of which quick service may be accomplished; escrip- Figures 4 and 5 are sectional views taken along the lines 44' and 55 respectively of.Figure 1.

. Figures 6 and 7- are sectional views taken along the lines 66 andv7v7 respectively of- Fig'ure 1. I r

Figures 8, 9, and 10 illustrate details of constructiom-Figure 10 being a sectional view taken v along the line 10-10 of Fig ure 9.

' Before proceeding to a detailed description of the present invention, it may be stated that theinvention contemplates a vehicle-possessing the necessary sturdiness for ing-other kinds of said food cold. Provision is also made for carrying food which should be maintained at approximately the atmospheric temperature, and provision is also made for carrying dishes, glassware,

.knives,: forks, spoons and other utensils which may befound necessary. Inasmuch as moving a vehicle of thisnature from place to place involves the vtransportation of hot water, with the consequent danger of splashing, the present invention contemplates means for preventingsuch splashing.

The food table, according to the present invention, is capable of adaptation to any particular form of diet, without material change. Readily interchangeable means are :contemplated whereby to receive any desired combinationof pots or pans, whereby the table may be used efficiently for difierent-kinds of diets. For example, the table may be used for a purely vegetable diet, in which only vegetable jars are carried, or,

if desired, the table may be readily adapted forcarrying meat pans exclusively. Any desired combination of food receptacles, within widelimits, may be carried without r changes in the body of the table. table embody- I .The food table inythe present invention comprises a body portion 10, which is mounted upon a set of suitably swiveled wheels or casters 1111. The body portion 10 may be made up of steel angle pieces 12-42, .which may be vsecuredto- I r r V/ gether to form a rigid structure. The top portion 13 ofthe body will be provided more in detail hereinafter. 1414 are provided with apertures for re.

with a number of "apertures for receiving collars 14-14, which will be referred to Said collars ceiving food receptacles 15, which may be of anyof the convenient shapes found advantageous in practice.

' According to the structure best illustrated in Figure 3, the hot parts of the food table,

' the cold parts thereof, and the parts to be iwater inwhich may be kept at a steaming kept at atmospheric temperature are separated by insulation. The body portionlO carries a pair of water pans 1616,=the

' temperature 'by, means of heaters .17-'17,

which may be in the form of electric heaters, and which .may be controlled by suitable switch mechanism indicated by the numeral 18. The numeral 18' indicates an electric socket by which connection may be made with a supply circuit. The heating devices 17- -17 may be mounted upon a shelf 19 within the body portion 10.; The space heneath the shelf 19 maybe-utilized for the indicate'walls of insulating material which 5 "enclose a chamber indicated by the numeral 22. "The chamber 22 may be made up of a plurality of receptacles for holding'food or 'sert dishes, ice cream dippers and silverutensils which are to be kept at atmospheric temperature, as, for instance, pies, cake, desware. Immediately tothe right of the wall 19,

and located at the rear of'the food table, is the'cofiee receptacle 23, which may be pro- "vided with a pump 24 for supplying coffee.

Said coffee receptacle 23 will be completely surrounded by insulating material 25 whereby the coffee may be maintained at a proper 50.

coffee receptacle 24- are receptacles 26 and" 27, one .of which'may contain cream, and

temperature. Adjacent to the insulating the other j'of which may contain. milk or other'cold drink. Pumps 28 and 29 will be provided for drawing fluid from the recep-.

tacles 26 and 27. Placed in front of the reoeptacles 26 and 27 is the ice box 30 shown .in Fi re 5. Ice within the ice box 30will keep the fluids within receptacles 26 and 27. at a low temperature, the receptacles 26 and 27 being suitably insulated from other surrounding parts of the table to reduce un desirable heat transfer. The numeral 31 indicates such insulation. A drain v32 is pro-' vided beneath'the outlet of pump 24, and

.-;-'Mounted at the right hand drains 3333 are provided beneath theoutlets of pumps 28 and29. The drains32 and "33 communicate with the drainspi-got 34,

which is placed in proper position to drain offwater from the ice box 30. Immediately in front of the ice box 30 is'a chamber 35,

having a pair of doors 3636, which chamber may .be utilized for holding desserts which should be kept cold, such as custards and puddings, Immediately below the chamber are a pair of drawers 3737. Beneath the drawers 37 -37 is the drawer 38 and the drawer 39. Drawers 37 and 38 may be used for butter and other foods or utensils which should be kept-cool, and the drawer Inasmuch as drawer 39 will be heavily loaded, it is provided with roller bearings 39-39, whereby said drawer may be readily operated. The detailsof the drawer 39 will be described hereinafter.

end of the table as viewed in Figures l, 2, and 3, is a vertically placed swivel connection, indicatedby the numeral 40. Said connection comprises an upstanding stud 41, which is secured to the food table. Surrounding the stud 41 is the pipe 42, which should fit said. stud with suflicient closeness v to. prevent shaking, but whichshould be freely rotatable upon said stud. Mounted upon the pipe- 142 is the rack 43 for carrying glassware and cups and saucers and other utensils needed in connection with the serving ofcofl'ee and cold drinks. The rack 43 will be rectangular 39 may be used as an ice cream container.

invplanview and may be swung through an 1 angle of substantially 90 degrees; When the food table is being moved about from place to place, the rack 43 will be moved to a posi tion overthe body of the food table, whereby to='be unobtrusive. When the food table is stationary and service isbeing hadthe-re from, the rack 43 will be swung out into the position indicated in Figure 2, wherebyaccess may be conveniently had to the receptacle 23 and receptacles 26 and 27. The rectangular space in front of the receptacle 23 andthe ice box 30 will constitute a serving table. a I

Mounted at the front of the ,table at the left hand end thereof, as viewed inFigures 1 and 2, is the tiltable serving board 44,, which'may be held up in the plane of the top of the food table by means of collapsible struts 45-45, best illustrated in Figures 6 and 7. Said serving board 44 may be readily moved down out of conspicuous position when the steam table is being-trundled about. a a 7 The means for preventing splashing of the water within the hot water pans 16 16 will now be. described.

At a point above the water level in each ,of-said pans, is a shoulder 46, which should of the an. The shoulder 46 provides a oove or receiving the splash rotector or aflie 47, which, as indicated in igure 8, is provided with a downwardly extending flange. 48, fitting within shoulder 46. The splash protector or bafiie 47 has a horizontal portion 49 and 8. depending member 50. The splash protector 47 will extend entirely around each of the pans and will act as a bafile to stop any water which may be thrown upwardly during movement of the food table. Any such water will drop back into the pan from the depending portion 50, which will operate as a water shedder. Said splash protector will not interfere with the functions of the hot water in supplying heat to the food receptacles, inasmuch as said splash protector only rims the pans 16-16, leaving the middle portions of said pans free.

The numeral 51 indicates a rack upon which dishes may be conveniently stacked, while the numeral 52 indicates a shield or oven for coverin a roast.

Placed above t e pans 16-16 are a plurality of plates or units 53, which may be held in place on the top of the food table by means of shoulders 54 located near the top of pans 16. Figure 2 shows four of these plates or units 53. Each of Sam plates or units 53 is provided with suitable apertures for the reception of food dishes or food pans. Food receptacles for steam tables have been standardized to a considerable extent, so that receptacles for vegetables have a decidedly difi'erent contour from receptacles for meats. Containers for soups and other articles of food have contours which are standardized to a considerable extent. According to the present invention, the plates or units 5353 are mounted on the top of the food table in a way to be readily removed and replaced. The present invention contemplates the provision of a number of plates or units 53 having difierent designs of apertures, whereby .to be suitable for any preferred diet; for example, for use in a hospital or Sanitarium where, certain diets are prescribed, the proper units 53 may be selected for containing receptacles for this diet. For use at a different time or under other conditions, where another diet is prescribed, units 53-53 may be readily changed and the proper food loaded on the food table.

Referring now to the ice cream drawer 39, said drawer comprises a metal receptacle adapted to carry an insulator 55, as shown in Figures 3 and 5. Said insulator 55 is provided with handles 56 by means of which said insulator may be removed for purposes of cleaning. Said insulator comprises a double-walled receptacle, the outer wall of which is indicated by the numeral 57 and the inner wall of which is indicated by the numeral 58. Said walls contain, between them, insulating material such as cork or asbestos. The inner wall 58 provides a receptacle for containing ice and a can 59 for ice cream. A cover 60 may be provided for the insulator 55 if referred. The described arrangement of rawer 39 and insulator 55 has the advantage that no water of condensation from moisture in the atmosphere will collect outside of the insulator 55 and there will be no tendency to drip from the bottom of the food table.

It will be understood, of course, that the food table has a much broader application than merely to hospitals and samtariums. In explaining the invention, its applicability to hospitals and sanitariums has been particularly referred to, however, for the purpose of havin a concrete example. It will be understood from the foregoing description that the present invention provides, in a single vehicle, the means for supplyin food of great variety to a large number 0% people, it being possible to carry food receptacles of any preferred contour and to keep the food therein hot by means of hot water baths, without the danger of s lashing, while at the same time cold f s and drink may be transported without any great amount of heat transfer.

One embodiment of the resent invention has been described in detail. Many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. It is intended to cover in this patent all such modifications that fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the ap ended claims.

laims:

1. A portable food table readil convertible for different kinds of food: comprising a frame member, means associated with said frame member for providing a hot water bath, said means comprising a pan having holding means intermediate of its height and a readily removable bafile supported by said holding means for preventin splashing of water, holding means locate near the top of said pan, and interchan eable means mounted upon said last mentioned holding means, said interchangeable means being provided with apertures for receiving receptacles for different kinds of food.

2. A portable food table comprising a frame, a pan mounted within said frame, said pan having holding means located intermediate of its height and other holding means located near the top thereof, a readily removable baflie extending around the inside of said pan and supported by said first mentioned holding means, and a readily removable receptacle holding member mounted upon said last mentioned holding means.

3. A portable food table readily conremovable bafiie supported by 'said hookshaped means intermediate of the height of said pan, and holding means carried by said upper set of hook-shaped members, said holding means being readily interchangeable and being provided with apertures for re- ;eivng receptacles for different kinds of Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 18th day go of October, 1921.

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